After confirming reservations, we all ended up going to Cin Cin on Robson Street.

Barb and I had first gone to Cin Cin about 15 years ago when we were first dating and we had been there about 3 or 4 times since then with various people and could definitely be classified as one of our favourites and we have never been disappointed on any of our visits.

Most people know Robson Street as one of the busiest streets in Vancouver as far as the number of pedestrians goes. No matter what the time of the day or night the sidewalks on Robson are pretty much jammed pack from Granville to about Bute Street. Taking the stairs up from Robson towards Cin Cin which is located on the second floor, it’s a convenient escape from the hustle and bustle of the busy street below.

We were meeting Peter and Liz at the restaurant and we arrived a few minutes before them and were seated to our table. While we were waling, we heard a song playing in the restaurant which brought back memories of our trip to Italy last year. It was a song by an Italian singer Laura Pausini who’s music we did not necessarily hear in Italy itself but became part of our Italian experience as it was one of our favourite songs that I ended up adding to the DVD* that I created for our Italy trip.

* Sidebar: I’m still planning on putting a version of the Italy DVD onto the blog here some time soon.

We had our table at Cin Cin right beside the door to the balcony and in hind sight if I was able to get the reservation done earlier I would have asked for a balcony table as the weather was perfect and it would have been that much better dining on the balcony. As it stood, the balcony was completely packed the whole night.

As we had experienced each time we had dined at Cin Cin before, the dinner that we had was absolutely first rate. I had ordered the Pollo (Italian for chicken) which was listed as cooked under clay bricks. Normally I am a bit hesitant about ordering chicken (especially breast) as it can easily be a bit dry if not prepared well but I was intrigued by the clay brick cooking method. I remember reading about this method of cooking chicken in Tuscany before we left for Italy last year but was never able to find a place that served chicken that way while we were there. Nonetheless, the Pollo served at Cin Cin that night was absolutely perfect – with a crispy outer crust and the most perfectly moist meat that I could ever ask for. Eating the pollo that night was easily accomplished by just using my fork – the knife completely optional.

The finish to the evening was a gloriously decadent dessert stated as Roasted Okanagan Cherries In Olive Oil on the menu. The huge bowl of cherries were served warm and the sauce was a perfect compliment to the flavour of the sweet cherries – served already pitted and halved.

By the time that the bill arrived, we were all pretty full and without exception, all enjoyed a perfect meal. We took a long nice walk along Robson Street on the way back to our cars to work off some of the calories. A enjoyable evening by any standard.

Baden

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Cin Cin Ristorante and Bar
1154 Robson St., Vancouver
604-688-7338

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At the time of that last post (4 months ago), I had not even started any of the research that goes into our trips – something that I learned all too well when planning our Quebec Adventure in December that there was a significant amount of work involved in these types of vacations. Before that trip, I had pretty much really relied on Barb for 95% or more of the planning process and the real work involved was more or less something that I really didn’t appreciate.

Nonetheless, as of about a few days ago, I had made all of my bookings that needed to get done for my Germany trip. Needless to say, Barb had already finished hers as well.

With both of our trips coming up in the next 1 – 1½ months, the whole thing about Barb and I going on separate trips is beginning to hit home. Quite honestly, it’s going to be quite strange going to Europe by myself and not have Barb with me. From Vancouver, there’s about a 9 hour flight to Frankfurt and doing this by myself will be quite a different type of experience. However, I’ve got to make the best of it and I’m hoping that if nothing else, I’ll be able to improve me German language skills.

Before all of that occurs, I’ll be spending two weeks at home by myself while Barb and Ruth go to Tahiti on their own Excellent Adventure. I guess I’ll have those two weeks on my own to think about my German Adventure which will be right on the heels of Barb’s return.

Baden